Madeleine McCann: German Prisoner Identified as Suspect, #33

[G-Unit]

I wonder if Brueckner will ever be charged?

 

[enquirer6]

This link is useful, I think:

A whole host of cases against Brueckner unrelated to Madeleine have been thrown out by legal authorities in Braunschweig and Brueckner's lawyer has opined that the same will apply to the Madeleine case. But that has not been confirmed.

Across the board, I think the issue is not the strength of evidence against the accused; rather the thorny question of whether Brueckner lived in the district when the crimes were committed.

I don't think there's any question that evidence in ALL the cases warrants trial.

German court throws out sex charges against suspect in Madeleine McCann case

A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The court's decision means that legal authorities in Braunschweig have no jurisdiction over the case of "Maddie", a British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 at the age of 3, lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said in an email to Reuters.

German prosecutors last year said they had charged Brueckner with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between Dec. 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017. These charges are not linked to the McCann case.

Confirming a report in Bild daily, Fuelscher said the court in Braunschweig had decided that it had no jurisdiction in the case and had revoked the arrest warrant against Brueckner.

The court, in the state of Lower Saxony, confirmed the decision, saying the fact that Brueckner had registered a place of residence in the state of Saxony-Anhalt meant it fell outside Braunschweig's jurisdiction.


A spokesperson for the court stressed that the charges were separate from the McCann case and declined to confirm Fuelscher's view that the move meant the court would no longer be able to consider the latter.

Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug trader who is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region of Portugal from where Madeleine went missing, was formally identified as an official suspect in the McCann case last year.

Fuelscher did not say when Brueckner was due to be released or whether the court decision would affect that.

German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was assumed dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible for it. Brueckner has denied being involved in the disappearance and has not been charged with any crime related to it.


The Braunschwieg state prosecutor said the decision changed nothing for the moment.

"We will continue to investigate in the Maddie case and the accused remains in prison," prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told Reuters in an email.

The prosecutors office in Portugal did not immediately reply to a request for comment

From the article (sic):

A spokesperson for the court stressed that the charges were separate from the McCann case and declined to confirm Fuelscher's view that the move meant the court would no longer be able to consider the latter.

 

[Lilly b]

This link is useful, I think:

A whole host of cases against Brueckner unrelated to Madeleine have been thrown out by legal authorities in Braunschweig and Brueckner's lawyer has opined that the same will apply to the Madeleine case. But that has not been confirmed.

Across the board, I think the issue is not the strength of evidence against the accused; rather the thorny question of whether Brueckner lived in the district when the crimes were committed.

I don't think there's any question that evidence in ALL the cases warrants trial.

German court throws out sex charges against suspect in Madeleine McCann case

A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said on Thursday.

www.reuters.com

BERLIN, April 20 (Reuters) - A court in the German city of Braunschweig has thrown out rape and sexual offence charges against Christian Brueckner, who has been formally identified as an official suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The court's decision means that legal authorities in Braunschweig have no jurisdiction over the case of "Maddie", a British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 at the age of 3, lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said in an email to Reuters.

German prosecutors last year said they had charged Brueckner with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between Dec. 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017. These charges are not linked to the McCann case.

Confirming a report in Bild daily, Fuelscher said the court in Braunschweig had decided that it had no jurisdiction in the case and had revoked the arrest warrant against Brueckner.

The court, in the state of Lower Saxony, confirmed the decision, saying the fact that Brueckner had registered a place of residence in the state of Saxony-Anhalt meant it fell outside Braunschweig's jurisdiction.


A spokesperson for the court stressed that the charges were separate from the McCann case and declined to confirm Fuelscher's view that the move meant the court would no longer be able to consider the latter.

Brueckner, a convicted child abuser and drug trader who is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region of Portugal from where Madeleine went missing, was formally identified as an official suspect in the McCann case last year.

Fuelscher did not say when Brueckner was due to be released or whether the court decision would affect that.

German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was assumed dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible for it. Brueckner has denied being involved in the disappearance and has not been charged with any crime related to it.


The Braunschwieg state prosecutor said the decision changed nothing for the moment.

"We will continue to investigate in the Maddie case and the accused remains in prison," prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told Reuters in an email.

The prosecutors office in Portugal did not immediately reply to a request for comment

From the article (sic):

A spokesperson for the court stressed that the charges were separate from the McCann case and declined to confirm Fuelscher's view that the move meant the court would no longer be able to consider the latter.

I'm sure this was posted last week

 

[Davieson]

I'm sure this was posted last week.

At some length. When jurisdiction has been agreed, a fresh decision can be made about the charges.

 

[RichardKimble]

Right

She is still in the locality IMO.

I think this was HCWs whole point. Naming CB would give insights into where he might have secreted the body. Especially they needed to know his movements in those 24 hours.

In a quote attributed to Wolters he said back in May 2021 he belives she was killed in Portugal.

Madeleine McCann 'was killed in Portugal and not moved to Germany by suspect'

EXCLUSIVE: German police had previously feared their suspect Christian Brueckner had taken the girl, who would now be 18, from Praia da Luz to his native home

www.mirror.co.uk

When asked where he believed she was killed, Wolters claimed: “In Portugal. I am optimistic we will solve this case.”

 

[Dave55]

Press conferences aren't official statements. He's yet to take any evidence to a court.

In a quote attributed to Wolters he said back in May 2021 he belives she was killed in Portugal.

Madeleine McCann 'was killed in Portugal and not moved to Germany by suspect'

EXCLUSIVE: German police had previously feared their suspect Christian Brueckner had taken the girl, who would now be 18, from Praia da Luz to his native home

www.mirror.co.uk

When asked where he believed she was killed, Wolters claimed: “In Portugal. I am optimistic we will solve this case.”

I think Wolters felt naming CB as the subject would really help the investigation..but he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't absolutely sure

 

[Dave55]

Nd conferences aren't official statements. He's yet to take any evidence to a court.

I see his claim it was an official statement on behalf of the BKA and his office

 

[Davieson]

I see his claim it was an official statement on behalf of the BKA and his office

A link to this official statement would be helpful.

 

[Lyall0814]

I think Wolters felt naming CB as the subject would really help the investigation..but he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't absolutely sure

He might be, or it might be bravado/bluff in an attempt to get a confession. Until it gets to a trial we won't know.

 

[Malleux]

I don't know how much attention was paid to the phone records and neither do you. I think if anyone's naive it's the one who assumes, not the one who questions.

Quite. To accept the claims of a celebrity hack without questioning it, and to assume he knows more about the phone proximity than the German authorities do, could be seen as rather naive, I agree.

 

[Malleux]

Back in 2020 the PJ searched some well's .

PJ police search three wells in Vila do Bispo as new ‘revelations’ continue to focus on jailed pedophile

The weekend began with major news outlets focusing on new police searches down three remote wells for the body of Madeleine McCann.

www.portugalresident.com

I remeber HCW said at the time this search was not related to the German investigation or that they hadn't requested it, something along those lines.

But I noticed in one of the recent docs (the Discovery one I believe) HCW clarified and admitted the Portuguese were acting on intelligence passed to them by the German investigation. He didn't elaborate any further but it seems some specific intel led them to that area, or to believe MM's body could be in a well?

 

[RichardKimble]

I remeber HCW said at the time this search was not related to the German investigation or that they hadn't requested it, something along those lines.

But I noticed in one of the recent docs (the Discovery one I believe) HCW clarified and admitted the Portuguese were acting on intelligence passed to them by the German investigation. He didn't elaborate any further but it seems some specific intel led them to that area, or to believe MM's body could be in a well?

Thank you, hadn't heard that before, but along with all things in this case, the intel seems lacking in true substance.

 

[Davieson]

I remeber HCW said at the time this search was not related to the German investigation or that they hadn't requested it, something along those lines.

But I noticed in one of the recent docs (the Discovery one I believe) HCW clarified and admitted the Portuguese were acting on intelligence passed to them by the German investigation. He didn't elaborate any further but it seems some specific intel led them to that area, or to believe MM's body could be in a well?

replied to wrong quote

 

[RichardKimble]

I see this article is dated June 2020, so I presume they didn't make a break-through

July wasn't it, 13 yrs after the event a small child, how preserved would any remains likely to be. But like you say no breakthrough .

 

[Dave55]

A link to this official statement would be helpful.

So when he makes an appeal..when he talks to the press..you think those are not official statements

 

[Davieson]

So when he makes an appeal..when he talks to the press..you think those are not official statements

Not what I said, though I think there may sometimes be ambiguity regarding who he's speaking on behalf of.
I asked for a link to such a statement.

 

[Dave55]

replied to wrong quote

 

[G-Unit]

Quite. To accept the claims of a celebrity hack without questioning it, and to assume he knows more about the phone proximity than the German authorities do, could be seen as rather naive, I agree.

Quite a few people have investigated the phone masts and calls in detail, so there were people who knew that a phone couldn't be identified as being in a particular street in Luz long before MWT raised the subject. I wonder if you did?

 

[Malleux]

Quite a few people have investigated the phone masts and calls in detail, so there were people who knew that a phone couldn't be identified as being in a particular street in Luz long before MWT raised the subject. I wonder if you did?

Yes I did know that. Who has claimed that it could be located to a specific street?

 

[Davieson]

Its good to see that there is a general understanding that the phone call is of little, if of any use.